Harriet Beecher Stowe

Christmas—the very word conjures up memories of the most wondrous childhood holiday of all—filled with the glitter of colorfully-wrapped presents, family visits, carols, photographs, decorating the tree, attendance at church to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and tummy-stuffing dinners tucked with treats seen at no other time of the year.

But the Yule holiday has been celebrated for at least two centuries in North America, and our